1 EUROPEAN UNION
MEPs arrested as European parliament offices searched
Belgian police have searched European parliament offices as part of a growing investigation into alleged bribery and corruption, as senior EU leaders warned the credibility of the bloc was at stake.
Belgium’s federal prosecutor announced on Monday it had carried out 20 searches since last Friday, including 19 at private homes and one at the European parliament offices. Earlier in the day, Greek authorities ordered the seizure of assets belonging to an MEP implicated in the bribery investigation. Four people have been charged with participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption as part of a major investigation into attempts by a Gulf State, named in the Belgian media as Qatar, to buy influence with large sums of money and gifts.
None of the suspects have been formally identified, but Belgian media have named the Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili as among the four arrested. MEPs are expected to vote imminently on whether to strip Kaili, who on Monday was expelled from the parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group, of her status as one of the parliament’s 14 vice-presidents.
2 PERU
Early election compromise fails to quell protests
Widespread unrest continued across the country, particularly in rural strongholds of former president Pedro Castillo, despite new president Dina Boluarte announcing that she will send Congress a bill to bring general elections forward two
